richie combs

THE RICHIE MIXMusical Composition

Bio

Richie Combs is an 18 year old, non-binary visual artist and video editor born and living in San Antonio, Texas. Their artwork often consists of a melody of cute, silly characters, distinguished lines, and themes of portraying realistic things and deep emotions in surrealistic, cartoonish ways. Upon graduating from the North East School of the Arts as a Visual Art major and from SAY Sí as a student in the Home for Innovation and Video Ecology studio in 2021, they will be attending the Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri for college.

Artist Statement

This music mix was a challenge for myself to make music with nothing but GarageBand, an Ableton Live 11 free trial, random online tutorials, and my own head. The first track in the mix was the first song I created, made at SAY Sí in 2019 for ALAS and HIVE’s holiday show SAY Sí Night Live. With the second track, Depression Descendance, I wanted to explore music as a way to communicate a specific feeling. This song was made as an auditory version of a depressive episode. The little tune of chimes is like things being okay and that one thing keeping you going, keeping you here. When things seem to get deeper and more complex, it's still there. You can still hear or feel it, and you are still going. Things feel very solitary and sad, overwhelming and distorted, but it eventually clears up again and you are again with the happy tune, but it also feels… unnerving… as if it’s all going to happen again. The third track is a short cover of a song that was a part of my childhood, Sound of My Dream. I thought it would be fun to hear it in a new way, and knowing I made a new version from scratch made it feel more personal. The art in the video and the video itself was also created by yours truly! Overall, this medley of tunes displays the gears in my mind as an auditory sensation… reflecting on the beginning, dealing with the current, and bringing some of the joyful past back for the present.

EXPRESSIONS oƒ SOLITUDE• • • • Adam Villarreal Andres Gutierrez Andrew Mendoza-Knecht Anna Isabel Hernandez Ashley Barg Brenna Brown Calista Olivares Cristino-Paul Fuentes Giovanna Lopez-Tristan Jonathan Rodriguez Kaitlynn Andrews Kayla Ritchey Kristin Quintanilla Maggie Rose Kolb Madelyn Holveck Nat Lopez Romero Nathan Daniel Cazares Richie Combs Sara Canestaro Sofia Rodriguez Tereza Espinoza